(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an object handling apparatus and method, and in particular an object handling apparatus and method adapted to stack and/or unload objects such as discs having at least one aperture therein defining an inner rim, such as compact discs, dvd's, floppy discs, mobile phone covers, etc.
(2) Description of Related Art
The production and post production handling of such mass produced objects invariably involves the use of automated robotic equipment in manipulating and/or transporting the objects during the various manufacturing stages. The faster the objects can be handled by such equipment, the greater the manufacturing output, and therefore the more cost effective the entire manufacturing operation.
However, conventional robotic arms or the like are only capable of handling individual objects. Thus, in use, the arm grips the first object, and then transports the object to another location, before returning to collect the next object. This process is repeated continually until all of the objects have been transferred to the required location.
The method and apparatus of the present invention enable a large number of a particular object to be handled at once, thus dramatically reducing the number of operations required to transfer a given number of the objects from one location to another, and thus the time and cost of manufacture.